SA v AUS 2018: David Warner is not in a great headspace currently, says wife Candice

Warner has been suspended by Cricket Australia for a period of 12 months after he was found to be the instigator of the ball-tampering scandal.

David Warner broke down during the press conference in Sydney on Saturday (March 31), stating that he might never get a chance to play for Australia again. The southpaw repeatedly said he is taking full responsibility for his part in the disgraceful ball-tampering scandal that shook Australian cricket.

Warner has been suspended by Cricket Australia (CA) for a period of 12 months after he was found to be the instigator behind this shameful act.

Amidst this torrid time, Warner's wife Candice in an exclusive interview with Daily Telegraph has revealed that the former Aussie vice-captain is not a great headspace currently.

"I feel like it's all my fault and it's killing me - it's absolutely killing me. He's just such an emotional wreck and I think he was sitting there hearing words but not really being able to process,” Candice said.

“If people could understand - which they probably won't because there's so many people out there that want answers - but if they could just sympathise just slightly with the month that he's had. I'm sure there were things he wanted to say but he just couldn't get it out. He is hurting. He is seriously, seriously struggling and he's not in a great headspace," she added.

It is not the first time that Warner has become the talk of the town in this series for wrong reasons. During the first Test in Durban, the Aussie opener was seen pointing and directing a verbal barrage at South Africa wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock outside the team’s dressing room, before he was restrained and taken away by his teammates. Subsequently, Warner was charged for breaching Level 2 of the ICC Code of Conduct and was fined 75 percent of his match fee (approximately $13,500) in addition to three demerit points.

In the aftermath of the spat, the South African crowd got stuck into Warner in Port Elizabeth and Cape Town. The Protea fans were spotted wearing Sonny Bill Williams masks to taunt Warner’s wife during the first day of the second Test against Australia at St George's Park, while an old South African supporter passed some personal remarks towards Warner when he climbed the stairs following his dismissal in the third Test at Newlands.

It is pertinent to mention here that Candice Warner is famous for her toilet tryst with rugby superstar Sonny Bill Williams back in 2007.

"I never want to do a 'poor me' story or anything like that whatsoever. But Dave would come home from the game and see me in tears in the bedroom, and the girls just looking at their mum, it's been heartbreaking. When we were in Cape Town and Port Elizabeth, Dave would come home and, yes, I always put on a strong front and I turn out to the games. But seeing them wearing the masks, to have people staring and pointing and laughing at me, to have the signs, to have, you know, the songs made up about me, I would have to sit there and cop that. And he had to just cope with it, he was protecting me as much as he could and protecting the girls,” Candice said.

"Things that have happened in the past, I deserved that. I brought that upon myself. But what happened in South Africa was on a completeother level. And again, it's not an excuse," she explained.

Reports suggest that Warner started drinking and removed himself from the Australian team's WhatsApp group when the ball-tampering scandal came to limelight.

Commenting on that, Candice said: "I think that's what's been really hurtful. There's been all these reports that we're such a divisive couple, that we divide the team and things like that. But we've hosted numerous barbecues at our home, not just for the players but their partners, support staff, and we did that a couple of times. He's always going to dinner with the boys when his family's not around."

"All these reports, why I was the only one left in South Africa and all that is total rubbish because there's a handful of girls - Tim Paine's wife, Pat Cummins' partner - there's a heap of them still there. There's been so much fabrication on this and it's just, I personally have had enough," she concluded.